Artemis Macaulay Cup Final………….3 Days To Go! | |
18 August 2010 The Artemis Macaulay Cup Final between Kingussie and Inveraray takes place at Mossfield, Oban on Saturday 21 August 2010. Kingussie have had the more difficult route to the final. First Round Kingussie set off for Canal Parks to play Marine Harvest North Division 1 hopefuls Kilmallie in May 2010. The Kings were on a high after the previous weekend’s extra time triumph over Newtonmore in the MacTavish Cup. Kilmallie themselves were in good form, suffering just one defeat so far. Kilmallie were without the suspended Michael Rodger. Defender Ally MacLeod has been a long term absentee for Kingussie who were also without the injured Iain Borthwick and Rory Fraser. James Hutchison was also missing which stretched manager Stevie Borthwick’s resources. Andrew Borthwick played in goal for Kingussie although he was clearly hampered by a knee injury. Ronald Ross gave Kingussie the lead after 28 minutes and the visitors took this lead into the break. Young Thomas Borthwick made it 2-0 on 50 minutes whilst Ross added his second a minute from the end. Kilmallie had John Stewart sent off by referee Billy Wotherspoon after 75 minutes when he received a straight red card following a clash with young Kingussie defender Stuart Downey. The winning margin could have been greater but for some fine saves from Kilmallie keeper Kevin Toye who was deputising for Neil MacNiven who missed out due to work commitments. Given their injury situation, Kingussie did well to win so comfortable and they had a meeting with rivals Newtonmore at the Eilan to look forward to in the next round. Quarter Final The match of the day on the second Saturday of June 2010 was the Artemis Macaulay Cup quarter final tie between Newtonmore and Kingussie at the Eilan. Whilst Kingussie held the upper hand with a couple of wins from their earlier encounters this season, both sides had injury problems ahead of this one. The tie came too soon for ‘More’s Danny MacRae and Norman Campbell was only fit enough to make a 10 minute appearance as a second half substitute in the home attack. Kingussie suffered a major blow at the start of the week when it was confirmed that influential wing back Ally MacLeod suffered a broken thumb in the previous week’s victory over Kyles Athletic. Lee Bain was only fit enough to start on the bench but Fraser Munro and Louis Munro returned after injury. This wasn’t a classic and was played in front of a large crowd at the Eilan. Both sides will feel they had chances to win it although Kingussie enjoyed more of the possession. Newtonmore’s David Cheyne beat Andrew Borthwick in the Kingussie goal to open the scoring on 35 minutes. However they only held this advantage for 60 seconds when Ronald Ross blasted a shot past Michael Ritchie to level the tie at the break. Ritchie in the home goal produced a few good saves throughout the game, especially one from a Thomas Borthwick rocket 5 minutes into the second half. The winner came on 67 minutes when Ronald Ross continued his incredible goal scoring record against his side’s great rivals to clinch a semi final spot. There was one piece of bad news for Kingussie when defender Greg MacRae received a blow to the face resulting in a fractured cheekbone meaning that he missed out on a place in the winning Co-operative Cup MacTavish Final side against Kilmallie the following week. Semi Final The North semi final of the Artemis Macaulay Cup saw Kingussie and Fort William clash at the Bught Park, Inverness. Kingussie were still without the injured Iain Borthwick, Louis Munro, Rory Fraser and Ally MacLeod. Fraser Munro was unavailable as he wa on holiday and Ricky Grant was also absentee. Indeed the Kings had to pull young Thomas Borthwick back to wing centre. Fort William were keen to avoid another semi final defeat after losing out to Kilmallie in the last four of the MacTavish Cup. The Fort were at full strength with the exception of long term casualty Duncan Rodger. Fort William thumped Kingussie 6-0 when the sides met earlier in the season although Stevie Borthwick’s side has shown great improvement since then and this was emphasised in this tie. Ronald Ross put them ahead 2 minutes before the break and he added another 10 minutes into the second half. Fort William’s cause wasn’t helped when Steven Stewart, who had just come on as a substitute for John MacLeod, was sent off by referee Graham Cameron for taking a swipe at Ross as he lay on the ground. Paul Gow added a third Kings’ goal 3 minutes from the end and the winning margin could have been more had it not been for some fine saves from home keeper Paul MacKay. The Artemis Macaulay Cup Final is live on BBC 2 and throw up is at 2.25pm. |